Partnership & Investment Opportunities
Black-Led Organizations (BLOs) Capacity Building Initiative
Background:
According to a report issued in February of 2015 by the Bay Area Black United Fund - Black-Led
Organizations (BLOs) in the Bay Area: From Crisis to Change - BLOs serving as lifelines to lowincome Black communities are vulnerable due to a historic lack of revenue to support growth,
best-in-class systems and training and leadership development. Connections to resources such
as mentors, coaches and experienced consultants to assist with succession planning, board
recruitment and the implementation of earned income strategies have also been identified as
keys to improving the sustainability of BLOs and the communities they serve. Leaders from The
East Bay Community Foundation, The San Francisco Foundation, The Kapor Center for Social
Impact, The Y & H Soda Foundation and The California Endowment have developed a fresh and
dynamic collaborative capacity building initiative designed to further develop the nonprofit sector
by innovatively supporting the growth, sustainability and impact of BLOs in four Bay Area
Counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco and San Mateo.
The Initiative:
An innovative capacity-building initiative has been designed for a cohort of up to 15 emerging
and mature BLOs:
BLO Accelerator – an intensive six-month program designed to bolster the growth and
sustainability of emerging, innovative community anchors that have a vision for growth,
promising ideas and a willingness to work in new ways to catalyze personal, organizational
and community change. This program includes class room and on-line training focused on
business planning, management, marketing, finance and innovation; access to mentors,
coachies, technical supports; and a pitch opportunity. Successful participants will receive
a three-year investment with on-going technical support and training.
BLO Stabilizer – a three-year program for mature community anchors designed to
minimize risk and guide organizations through transition by providing leadership
development, board recruitment, advanced training and succession planning.
Cross-Cutting Programs and Services - Key elements, such as an online community
for peer networking and learning and access to certain workshops and speakers –
including a conference – will be open to all BLOs in the four-county service area (current
database includes 125 BLOs).
Budget/Timeline:
As illustrated in the following chart, the initiative will be capitalized at $10 million over seven
years including two rounds of the BLO Accelerator in 2017 and 2020, and one round of the BLO
Stabilizer in 2017.
BLO
Accelerator
Budget (2 Rounds)
Stabilizer
TOTAL:
(1 Round)
2017
$500,000
$1,000,000
$1,500,000
2018
$1,000,000
$1,000,000
$2,000,000
2019
$1,000,000
$1,000,000
$2,000,000
2020
$1,500,000
2021
$1,000,000
2022
$1,000,000
2023
$1,000,000
Round I
Stabilizer
BLOs begin
Accelerator
Round II
in 2020
$1,500,000
$1,000,000
$1,000,000
$1,000,000
TOTAL: $7,000,000 $3,000,000 $10,000,000*
Investment Opportunities:
The East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF) has primary responsibility for management and
administration including receiving and disbursing funds on behalf of participating funders.
Current investors have made multi-year lead commitments to provide a minimum of
$1,500,000. To fully fund the Initiative, other philanthropic leaders are encouraged to leverage
their resources and expertise to ensure deeper, longer-term investments and an opportunity to
encourage innovation, diffuse risk and more effectively support field-wide learning. All
participating funders are entitled to one seat per funder on a Steering Committee charged with
identifying, planning, and funding carefully chosen strategies including the selection of grantees,
evaluators, trainers, coaches and other technical assistance providers.
To support the implementation of the BLO Accelerator and BLO Stabilizer, the leading investors
are actively seeking support from foundations, corporate contribution programs, government
agencies and individual donors:
PARTNERSHIP GRANTS
Partners are encouraged to award Multi-Year Grants to the fund,
administered by The East Bay Community Foundation,
by February 28, 2017.
To invite a proposal or request additional information, contact:
Sachi Yoshii
Director of Strategic Initiatives and Special Projects
East Bay Community Foundation
Ph: 510-836-3223; Email: [email protected]